Words and Their Stories:Bigwig
Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
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Some expressions describe people who are important, or who at least think they are. One such expression is, bigwig.
In the seventeenth century, important men in Europe began to wear false hair, called wigs. As years passed, wigs began to get bigger. The size of a man's wig depended on how important he was. The more important he was -- or thought he was -- the bigger the wig he wore. Some wigs were so large they covered a man's shoulders or back.
Today, the expression bigwig is used to make fun of a person who feels important. People never tell someone he is a bigwig. They only use the expression behind his back.
Big wheel is another way to describe an important person. A big wheel may be the head of a company, a political leader, a famous movie star. They are big wheels because they are powerful. What they do affects many persons. Big wheels give the orders. Other people carry them out. As in many machines, a big wheel makes the little wheels turn.
Big wheel became a popular expression after World War Two. It probably comes from an expression used for many years by people who fix parts of cars and trucks. They said a person rolled a big wheel if he was important and had influence.
The top of something is the highest part. So it is not surprising that top is part of another expression that describes an important person. The expression is, top banana. A top banana is the leading person in a comedy show. The funniest comedian is called the top banana. The next is second banana. And so on.
Why a banana? A comedy act in earlier days often included a part where one of the comedians would hit the others over the head with a soft object. The object was shaped like a yellow fruit: the banana.
Top banana still is used mainly in show business. Yet the expression also can be used to describe the top person in any area.
A kingpin is another word for an important person. The expression comes from the game of bowling. The kingpin is the number one pin. If hit correctly with the bowling ball, the kingpin will make all the other nine pins fall. And that is the object of the game.
So, the most important person in a project or business is the kingpin. If the kingpin is removed, the business or project is likely to fail.
Kingpin is often used to describe an important criminal, or the leader of a criminal gang. A newspaper may report, for example, that police have arrested the suspected kingpin of a car-stealing operation.
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This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Marilyn Christiano. I'm Warren Scheer.
这里是VOA特别英语词语典故节目。
一些短语用来描述重要的人物，或者至少自以为重要的人。其中一个这样的表达方式就是bigwig。
17世纪，欧洲的重要人物开始戴假发，这种假发叫做wigs。多年之后，假发wigs越来越大。一个男子所戴的假发的大小取决于他的重要性。他越重要——或者自认为越重要——他戴的假发就越大。一些假发肥差大，一直盖到肩部或背部。
今天，bigwig这个词用来打趣那些自我感觉很重要的人。人们从来不会告诉某个人他是bigwig，而只在背后说。
Big wheel是描述重要的人的另外一个表达方式。Big wheel大人物可能是公司的主心骨，政治领袖，或者著名的电影明星。他们是Big wheel，因为他们很有能力。他们的所作所为能够影响许多人。Big wheels下命令，其他人来实施。在许多机器中，Big wheel大轮带动小轮转。
Big wheel在第二次世界大战后成为流行用语。这个短语可能来自安装卡车或小汽车组件的人多年来使用的短语。他们说，如果一个人比较重要，比较有影响力，那么由他来转动大轮。
某个东西的顶部是最高的部分。所以，不出所料，top也用在另外一个表达某人很重要的短语中。这个短语就是：top banana。 top banana在喜剧表演中是主角。最有趣的喜剧演员被称为top banana，接下来就是second banana，以此类推。
为什么用banana来表示呢？早期的喜剧表演通常都有一部分，其中一个喜剧演员会用一个柔软的物体敲打另外一个人的头部。这个物体的形状很像香蕉。
现在，Top banana仍然在表演行业中使用。然而，这个表达方式还可以用来形容任何领域的重要人物。
kingpin是用来表达重要人物的另外一个短语。这个短语来自保龄球。kingpin是第一个球针。如果正确的用保龄球击中，kingpin会让其他九个球针都落下。这就是保龄球游戏的目标。
所以，一个项目或生意中最重要的人物被叫做kingpin。如果kingpin被移除，项目可能会失败。
kingpin经常被用来描述一个重要的罪犯，或者犯罪团伙的头目。例如，报纸可能报道，警方逮捕了偷车团伙的kingpin嫌疑犯。